Primarily Education-Focused Sessions and Resources

20 Minute Monday Morning Mentor (Week of November 23rd)

Date: Available November 23rd – November 29th
Session Title: How Can I Build a Successful Faculty Development Program?
Presenter: Kenneth Alford, Ph.D. (Associate Professor – Brigham Young University); Tyler Griffin, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor – Brigham Young University)

Overview:

There are places where tradition matters in higher education. The ceremonies. The rituals. The rivalries. The history. But that doesn’t mean it is immune to change. In fact, you can’t miss all the changes at colleges and universities these days, from the technology that is breaking down the walls of the lecture halls to the laws that are demanding how we handle safety and equality on campus and in the classroom to the increasingly diverse group of people who teach our students. Practically every day introduces a brave new world of teaching and learning.

The challenge, of course, is keeping all your instructors up to speed with all that change. No one person can stay on top of everything. That is where in-service training comes in. With the right programming, you can make sure that your faculty—regular and adjunct, along with instructors and teaching assistants—have access to and actually use the professional development resources they need in order to remain compliant and relevant.

Creating that kind of program is no small task, but you can learn how in How Can I Build a Successful Faculty Development Program?, a Magna 20-Minute Mentor with Brigham Young University associate professor Kenneth L. Alford and assistant professor Tyler Griffin.

Alford and Griffin break the big challenge down into more manageable components. They cover why you need to review and potentially improve your existing inservice programming.They touch on the topics, skills, and policies that you need to cover. And they give you sound ideas for successfully implementing your own inservice training.

The session link and login information to the November 23rd 20 Minute Monday Morning Mentor is available in the announcements section of the Professional Development course within Blackboard. Enrollment instructions for the Professional Development course are located at http://tinyurl.com/profdevenroll.

National Distance Learning Week Session – Virtual Presence: Inspire and Engage in the Virtual Classroom and Beyond

Date: Session was held November 11, 2015 

Archive Now Available – To view the recording from this session go to https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/nativeplayback.jnlp?sid=vclass&psid=2015-11-11.1019.D.308112D489929081EC574F1603EF5C.vcr

UTHSC celebrated National Distance Learning Week (NDLW)by hosting a campus viewing of a live webinar provided by the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) on November 11th. 

Overview of November 11th Session:

In the virtual medium, great content can easily be sabotaged by a presenter’s low energy, irritating vocal qualities or general inability to engage and excite their audience. Whether presenting online to hundreds via webinar, facilitating a small virtual classroom workshop, or phone conferencing with team members and direct reports, the most effective training leaders and facilitators harness their virtual presence to authentically connect with the hearts and minds of others for maximum impact. 

To view archived recordings from all NDLW sessions please go to: https://www.usdla.org/events/ndlw/

Who Am I When I Teach? Understanding Teaching Persona

Date: Session was held November 3, 2015 

Archive Now Available for 30 Days After the Live Presentation Date – Links to the recording and handouts are available in the Announcements section of the Professional Development course within Blackboard. Enrollment instructions for the Professional Development course are located at http://tinyurl.com/profdevenroll.

Overview:

The learning environment we seek to spark begins with who we are when we teach. Our teaching persona can ignite or impede our engagement at the same time it can ignite or impede students’ engagement as they pursue new ideas.

The teaching persona we bring to our work can set a tone for a productive dynamic, lead us to communicate with clarity, and invite a joy for learning. Too often educators are told, “be natural, be yourself,” without being given any real guidance as to how to develop an authentic teaching identity that can serve to embolden our teaching and spark student commitment to learning.

Through case studies, questions for self-reflection, options for follow-up activities, and resources for continuing understanding and application, this online seminar will provide you with the tools to gain insights into your teaching persona’s role as a catalyst in the development of an engaging teaching and learning environment.

During this seminar, you will:

• Discover key features of your own teaching identity
• Develop an awareness of the choices and influences those features generate in the learning environment
• Expand your repertoire of teaching capabilities through critical reflection on the relationships among teaching identity, learning environment, expectations, and engagement
• Activate catalysts for the continuing growth of your teaching identity to bring ongoing meaning and accomplishment to your work

The presenter, Linda Shadiow, Ph.D., brings 27 years of teaching at Northern Arizona University, including nearly a decade directing their faculty professional development program. Tap in to the understanding she brings to explore the choices inherent in honing and communicating a teaching persona that can become a conduit for purposeful and energized teaching and learning. 

Did you know….

You can apply credit received for professional development outside the university to your faculty training records? Simply complete the HR Request for Additional Training Credit form found at http://www.uthsc.edu/hrtraining/pdfs/additional_training_credit_form.pdf and forward it, along with a copy of the program’s agenda, to the HR Training Department at 910 Madison, Suite 727.

Why do this? The University of TN believes that professional development and training of its employees are central to the university’s mission, vision, and values. Having credit received elsewhere to your UTHSC training records is very useful to your department and college – for things such as annual reviews and program accreditations.